DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 08/28/2025 has been entered and accepted.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/28/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that “different laser parameters are used for these particle sizes in Zhang” (Page 9 of Applicant’s Remarks filed 08/28/2025). While different wavelengths are used for Guillemot and newly referenced SANDSTROM when compared with Zhang, the application of donor substrate of solder paste onto a circuit board is the same for Zhang as ARUTINOV. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have used the particles sizes chosen by Zhang, even if a different laser wavelength than Zhang is used, as Zhang teaches that those particle sizes for the solder paste are known in the art to be sufficient for printing solder paste onto an electronic circuit.
Applicant’s other arguments filed with respect to claim(s) 1 and 19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 9-12, 15-19, 21, 23, and 27-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARUTINOV (US 20220009247 A1) in view of Delrot (US 20180371389 A1), SANDSTROM (US 20180015671 A1), GUILLEMOT (US 20170320263 A1), and ZHANG (US 20200215633 A1).
Regarding claim 1, ARUTINOV (US 20220009247 A1) teaches a method for fabrication, comprising:
providing a donor sheet (Figure 1, donor substrate 11) comprising:
a donor substrate (carrier part 11c), which is transparent in a specified spectral range and has opposing first and second surfaces (Paragraph 23, carrier part 11c of the donor substrate is transparent to the laser pulses);
a sacrificial layer (paragraph 23, “sacrificial layer”), which absorbs optical radiation within the specified spectral range and is disposed over the first surface of the donor substrate (Paragraph 23, energy is deposited in a sacrificial layer positioned between donor material 11m and donor carrier 11c); and
a donor film (donor material 11m), which comprises a solder paste (Paragraph 47, donor material 11m comprises a conductive material which comprises solder paste) and is disposed over the sacrificial layer on the donor substrate (Paragraph 23, sacrificial layer is positioned between donor material 11m and donor carrier 11c);
positioning the donor sheet so that the donor film is in proximity to a target location on an acceptor substrate (Figure 1 Paragraph 18, acceptor substrate 12 is arranged at a transfer distance from the donor substrate 11),
wherein the acceptor substrate is an electronic circuit board (Paragraph 47, directed to form an electric circuit by printing circuit lines on the acceptor substrate 12);
directing a pulsed laser beam in the specified spectral range to pass through the second surface of the donor substrate and impinge on a point on the sacrificial layer (Figure 1 Paragraphs 23 and 28, pulsed laser beam L1 is directed through the carrier part 11c to impinge onto the sacrificial layer) with a pulse energy and spot size selected so as to ablate the sacrificial layer (Paragraph 23, the sacrificial layer is evaporated and/or disintegrated by the laser to initiate the transfer; Paragraph 34, intensity of each spot is controlled based on measurement of the resulting droplet; Paragraph 61, laser beam L1 has a spot size between 30 – 300 micrometers or more), thus causing a viscoelastic jet of the solder paste to be ejected from the donor film (Figure 1 Paragraphs 18-19, a jet is ejected from the donor material 11m as a result of the deposit of energy) and to deposit, at the target location on the acceptor substrate, a dot (Paragraph 25, a droplet Jd of the donor material is deposited on the acceptor substrate) having a diameter (Paragraph 43, size of droplet Jd is less than fifty micrometers) less than the spot size of the laser beam (Paragraph 61, first spot size Ds1 of laser pulse L1 has a spot size between thirty and three hundred micrometers, or more), and wherein only the pulsed laser beam is directed to the point when the sacrificial layer is ablated (Figure 4B Paragraph 55, alternatively to the splitting beam paths shown in Figure 4A the system comprises a beam shaper “SH” to help achieve the desired intensity profile “Ixy” advantageously using a relatively simple beam path using a single pulse).
While ARUTINOV fails to explicitly teach of “directing the pulsed laser beam comprises directing one or more pulses to impinge on the sacrificial layer with an energy greater than 200 uJ per pulse, wherein the one or more pulses have a duration between 10 ns and 5 us per pulse”, ARUTINOV does teach that the intensity of the laser spot and pulse length are controlled during operation as a function of desired droplet size (ARUTINOV Paragraphs 34-35), and further that the laser pulse are nanosecond pulses (ARUTINOV Paragraph 56) and that energy of a single pulse of the laser beam should be at a level such that it not only heats the donor but also causes some damage to the interface of the donor carrier but does not extend beyond 10% of the carrier thickness into the carrier (ARUTINOV Paragraph 57). ARUTINOV further teaches that it is desirable to reduce relative variation in droplet size and to have the droplet size be consistently controlled (ARUTINOV Paragraph 42). Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) teaches a method for laser-induced forward transfer wherein a laser beam vaporizes part of a light-absorbing film 301 positioned between the liquid 300 and transparent solid material 302 such as to generate a high-velocity liquid jet to deposit a droplet onto a supporting substrate (Delrot Figure 3 Paragraph 24), wherein said laser beam has a pulse energy between 0.5uJ and 300uJ and has a pulse width of 5ns to 2us (Delrot Paragraph 17). Since these laser parameter ranges of Deltrot, a known method of laser-induced forward transfer, are known in the art and ARUTINOV teaches that the intensity of the laser spot and pulse length are controlled during processing, it would thus be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify ARUTINOV so that “directing the pulsed laser beam comprises directing one or more pulses to impinge on the sacrificial layer with an energy greater than 200 uJ per pulse, wherein the one or more pulses have a duration between 10 ns and 5 us per pulse”, as discovering an optimal value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art as stated by MPEP 2144.05(II).
ARUTINOV as modified further fails to explicitly teach “wherein the specified spectral range comprises an infrared wavelength range. However, SANDSTROM (US 20180015671 A1) teaches a LIFT process wherein a laser with a wavelength of 1.06 microns, which is an infrared wavelength (SANDSTROM Paragraph 95), is used to send a donor material such as solder paste (SANDSTROM Paragraph 93) toward the target substrate. The Office further notes that the use of a laser with 1.06 microns (GUILLEMOT Paragraph 49) is known in the art to be sufficient for performing a LIFT process including a formation of a jet as evidenced by Paragraph 62 of GUILLEMOT (US 20170320263 A1). Thus, it would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with SANDSTROM and have the laser have an infrared wavelength as such a wavelength is known in the art to be used for delivering solder paste as donor material and is known in the art to be sufficient for the formation of a jet (SANDSTROM Paragraph 95; GUILLEMOT Paragraph 62), especially in view that the formation of droplets from the film is known in the art to be dependent on the laser beam wavelength (GUILLEMOT Paragraph 13).
ARUTINOV as modified fails to explicitly teach:
wherein the solder paste comprises metal particles having a diameter greater than 10 um
ZHANG (US 20200215633 A1) teaches a laser induced forward transfer device, wherein:
the solder paste comprises metal particles having a diameter greater than 10 um (Paragraph 42, the solder paste film is made of No. 5-7 powder solder paste with the particle size ranging from 2um - 25um).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with ZHANG and used solder paste having metal particles having a diameter greater than 10um. This would have been done as ARUTINOV and Zhang both use a laser LIFT method to deposit solder paste onto a PCB (ARUTINOV Paragraph 47; ZHANG Paragraph 41) and Zhang finds that solder paste containing at least some metal particles having a diameter greater than 10um is desirable for the PCB printing (ZHANG Paragraphs 41-42).
Regarding claim 4, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 1.
Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) further teaches:
the sacrificial layer comprises a metal film (Paragraph 17, solid-state light-absorbing film is a metal).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with Delrot and had the sacrificial layer comprise a metal film. This would have been done to provide a suitable material for the sacrificial layer for the purpose of facilitate transferring a droplet of material to the acceptor substrate.
Regarding claim 6, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 4.
Delrot further teaches:
the metal film has a thickness less than 100 nm (Paragraph 17, thickness of the light-absorbing layer is 10nm-10um)
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 4.
GUILLEMOT further teaches:
and comprises a metal selected from a group consisting of titanium (Paragraph 54, absorbent layer 62 is made of titanium), tungsten, chromium and molybdenum.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with GUILLEMOT and had the metal film be comprised of titanium. This would have been done to provide a suitable material for producing a jet of the material toward the acceptor substrate (GUILLEMOT Paragraphs 54-56).
Regarding claim 9, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein
the diameter of the dot formed by the viscoelastic jet is less than 200 um (Paragraph 43, size of droplet Jd is less than fifty micrometers).
Regarding claim 10, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein
positioning the donor sheet comprises holding the donor film at a distance of at least 200 um from a surface of the acceptor substrate (Paragraph 43, transfer distance between the donor substrate 11 and acceptor 12 is more than two hundred micrometers).
Regarding claim 11, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 11, wherein
the distance is at least 500 um (Paragraph 43, transfer distance between the donor substrate 11 and acceptor 12 is more than two hundred micrometers and can be increased to even up to 500 hundred meters or more).
Regarding claim 12, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 1.
GUILLEMOT further teaches:
directing the pulsed laser beam comprises directing infrared laser radiation to impinge on the sacrificial layer (Paragraph 51, laser source 64 is a laser source with a wavelength of 1064 nm which is within the infrared laser range; Paragraph 14, formation of droplets depends on wavelength of the laser beam).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with GUILLEMOT and used a laser source with a wavelength of 1064 nm which is within the infrared laser range. This would have been done to provide a suitable wavelength for producing a jet of the material toward the acceptor substrate (GUILLEMOT Paragraphs 54-56) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to adjust the wavelength of the laser beam based on the desired formation of droplets as the formation of droplets depends on the wavelength of the laser beam (GUILLEMOT Paragraph 13).
Regarding claim 15, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 11, wherein
the spot size of the laser beam impinging on the sacrificial layer is greater than 200 um (Paragraph 61, first spot size Ds1 of laser pulse L1 has a spot size between thirty and three hundred micrometers, or more), and the diameter of the dot deposited by the viscoelastic jet is less than 200 um (Paragraph 43, size of droplet Jd is less than fifty micrometers).
Regarding claim 16, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 15, wherein
the spot size of the laser beam impinging on the sacrificial layer is greater than 300 um (Paragraph 61, first spot size Ds1 of laser pulse L1 has a spot size between thirty and three hundred micrometers, or more).
Regarding claim 17, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 1.
Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) further teaches:
directing the pulsed laser beam comprises directing an array of pulsed laser beams to impinge simultaneously at a plurality of the points on the sacrificial layer, so as to deposit a corresponding matrix of dots on the acceptor substrate (Figure 6 Paragraph 27, directing multiple light pulses to vaporize a plurality of points of the light-absorbing film leading to simultaneous generation of several high-velocity liquid jets and delivery of several subsequent droplets onto the substrate)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with Delrot and had the pulsed laser beam direct an array of pulsed laser beams to simultaneously deposit a matrix of dots. This would have been done to allow for simultaneous generation of multiple droplets via light-actuation (Delrot Paragraph 27).
Regarding claim 18, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 17.
Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) further teaches:
directing the array of pulsed laser beams comprises depositing a first matrix of the dots on the acceptor substrate, and then shifting the donor sheet (ARUTINOV Paragraph 58, a laser beam can be moved over a stationary surface or the donor substate and/or acceptor substrate is moved with respect to a stationary laser spot between deposits) and directing the array of the pulsed laser beams to deposit a second matrix of the dots, interleaved with the first matrix of the dots on the acceptor substrate (Figures 6-7 Paragraph 27, the pulsed laser beam deposited droplets previously deposited by the multiple light beams and the newly depositing 609 and 610 are being deposited in a shifted manner such as to interleave the first matrix of the dots on the acceptor substrate).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 17.
Regarding claim 19, ARUTINOV (US 20220009247 A1) teaches an apparatus for fabrication, comprising:
a donor sheet (Figure 1, donor substrate 11) comprising:
a donor substrate (carrier part 11c), which is transparent in a specified spectral range and has opposing first and second surfaces (Paragraph 23, carrier part 11c of the donor substrate is transparent to the laser pulses);
a sacrificial layer (paragraph 23, “sacrificial layer”), which absorbs optical radiation within the specified spectral range and is disposed over the first surface of the donor substrate (Paragraph 23, energy from the laser is deposited in a sacrificial layer positioned between donor material 11m and donor carrier 11c); and
a donor film (donor material 11m), which comprises a solder paste (Paragraph 47, donor material 11m comprises a conductive material which comprises solder paste) and is disposed over the sacrificial layer on the donor substrate (Paragraph 23, sacrificial layer is positioned between donor material 11m and donor carrier 11c),
wherein the donor sheet is positioned so that the donor film is in proximity to a target location on an acceptor substrate (Figure 1 Paragraph 18, acceptor substrate 12 is arranged at a transfer distance from the donor substrate 11),
wherein the acceptor substrate is an electronic circuit board (Paragraph 47, directed to form an electric circuit by printing circuit lines on the acceptor substrate 12)
a laser, configured to output a pulsed laser beam in the specified spectral range (Figure 4 Paragraph 51, light source is configured to impinge the donor substrate with laser pulse L1 which transmits through the carrier part 11c and is deposited on the sacrificial layer); and
an optical assembly (Figures 4A-4B Paragraph 55, beam combiner is used to direct the laser pulse L1 towards donor substrate 11), configured to direct the pulsed laser beam to pass through the second surface of the donor substrate and impinge a point on the sacrificial layer (Figure 1 Paragraphs 23 and 28, pulsed laser beam L1 is directed through the carrier part 11c to impinge onto the sacrificial layer) with a pulse energy and spot size selected so as to ablate the sacrificial layer (Paragraph 23, the sacrificial layer is evaporated and/or disintegrated by the laser to initiate the transfer; Paragraph 34, intensity of each spot is controlled based on measurement of the resulting droplet; Paragraph 61, laser beam L1 has a spot size between 30 – 300 micrometers or more), thus causing a viscoelastic jet of the solder paste to be ejected from the donor film (Figure 1 Paragraphs 18-19, a jet is ejected from the donor material 11m as a result of the deposit of energy) and to deposit, at the target location on the acceptor substrate, a dot (Paragraph 25, a droplet Jd of the donor material is deposited on the acceptor substrate) having a diameter (Paragraph 43, size of droplet Jd is less than fifty micrometers) less than the spot size of the laser beam (Paragraph 61, first spot size Ds1 of laser pulse L1 has a spot size between thirty and three hundred micrometers, or more), and only the pulsed laser beam is directed to the point when the sacrificial layer is ablated (Figure 4B Paragraph 55, alternatively to the splitting beam paths shown in Figure 4A the system comprises a beam shaper “SH” to help achieve the desired intensity profile “Ixy” advantageously using a relatively simple beam path using a single pulse).
While ARUTINOV fails to explicitly teach of “directing the pulsed laser beam comprises directing one or more pulses to impinge on the sacrificial layer with an energy greater than 200 uJ per pulse, wherein the one or more pulses have a duration between 10 ns and 5 us per pulse”, ARUTINOV does teach that the intensity of the laser spot and pulse length are controlled during operation as a function of desired droplet size (ARUTINOV Paragraphs 34-35), and further that the laser pulse are nanosecond pulses (ARUTINOV Paragraph 56) and that energy of a single pulse of the laser beam should be at a level such that it not only heats the donor but also causes some damage to the interface of the donor carrier but does not extend beyond 10% of the carrier thickness into the carrier (ARUTINOV Paragraph 57). ARUTINOV further teaches that it is desirable to reduce relative variation in droplet size and to have the droplet size be consistently controlled (ARUTINOV Paragraph 42). Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) teaches a method for laser-induced forward transfer wherein a laser beam vaporizes part of a light-absorbing film 301 positioned between the liquid 300 and transparent solid material 302 such as to generate a high-velocity liquid jet to deposit a droplet onto a supporting substrate (Delrot Figure 3 Paragraph 24), wherein said laser beam has a pulse energy between 0.5uJ and 300uJ and has a pulse width of 5ns to 2us (Delrot Paragraph 17). Since these laser parameter ranges of Deltrot, a known method of laser-induced forward transfer, are known in the art and ARUTINOV teaches that the intensity of the laser spot and pulse length are controlled during processing, it would thus be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify ARUTINOV so that “directing the pulsed laser beam comprises directing one or more pulses to impinge on the sacrificial layer with an energy greater than 200 uJ per pulse, wherein the one or more pulses have a duration between 10 ns and 5 us per pulse”, as discovering an optimal value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art as stated by MPEP 2144.05(II).
ARUTINOV as modified further fails to explicitly teach “wherein the specified spectral range comprises an infrared wavelength range. However, SANDSTROM (US 20180015671 A1) teaches a LIFT process wherein a laser with a wavelength of 1.06 microns, which is an infrared wavelength (SANDSTROM Paragraph 95), is used to send a donor material such as solder paste (SANDSTROM Paragraph 93) toward the target substrate. The Office further notes that the use of a laser with 1.06 microns (GUILLEMOT Paragraph 49) is known in the art to be sufficient for performing a LIFT process including a formation of a jet as evidenced by Paragraph 62 of GUILLEMOT (US 20170320263 A1). Thus, it would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with SANDSTROM and have the laser have an infrared wavelength as such a wavelength is known in the art to be used for delivering solder paste as donor material and is known in the art to be sufficient for the formation of a jet (SANDSTROM Paragraph 95; GUILLEMOT Paragraph 62).
ARUTINOV as modified fails to explicitly teach:
wherein the solder paste comprises metal particles having a diameter greater than 10 um
ZHANG (US 20200215633 A1) teaches a laser induced forward transfer device, wherein:
the solder paste comprises metal particles having a diameter greater than 10 um (Paragraph 42, the solder paste film is made of No. 5-7 powder solder paste with the particle size ranging from 2um - 25um).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with ZHANG and used solder paste having metal particles having a diameter greater than 10um. This would have been done as ARUTINOV and Zhang both use a laser LIFT method to deposit solder paste onto a PCB (ARUTINOV Paragraph 47; ZHANG Paragraph 41) and Zhang finds that solder paste containing at least some metal particles having a diameter greater than 10um is desirable for the PCB printing (ZHANG Paragraphs 41-42).
Regarding claim 21, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 19.
Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) further teaches:
the sacrificial layer comprises a metal film (Paragraph 17, solid-state light-absorbing film is a metal), and wherein the metal film has a thickness less than 100 nm (Paragraph 17, thickness of the light-absorbing layer is 10nm-10um)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with Delrot and had the sacrificial layer comprise a metal film. This would have been done to provide a suitable material for the sacrificial layer for the purpose of facilitate transferring a droplet of material to the acceptor substrate.
ARUTINOV as modified fails to teach:
the metal film comprises a metal selected from a group consisting of titanium, tungsten, chromium and molybdenum.
GUILLEMOT (US 20170368822 A1) teaches a laser printing method, wherein:
the metal film comprises a metal selected from a group consisting of titanium (Paragraph 54, absorbent layer 62 is made of titanium), tungsten, chromium and molybdenum.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with GUILLEMOT and had the metal film be comprised of titanium. This would have been done to provide a suitable material for producing a jet of the material toward the acceptor substrate (GUILLEMOT Paragraphs 54-56).
Regarding claim 23, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 19, wherein:
the donor sheet is positioned at a distance of at least 200 um from a surface of the acceptor substrate (Paragraph 43, transfer distance between the donor substrate 11 and acceptor 12 is more than two hundred micrometers).
Regarding claim 27, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 19, wherein:
the spot size of the laser beam impinging on the sacrificial layer is greater than 200 um (Paragraph 61, first spot size Ds1 of laser pulse L1 has a spot size between thirty and three hundred micrometers, or more), and the diameter of the solder dot deposited by the viscoelastic jet is less than 200 um (Paragraph 43, size of droplet Jd is less than fifty micrometers).
Regarding claim 28, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 27, wherein:
the spot size of the laser beam impinging on the sacrificial layer is greater than 300 um (Paragraph 61, first spot size Ds1 of laser pulse L1 has a spot size between thirty and three hundred micrometers, or more).
Regarding claim 29, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 19.
Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) further teaches:
the optical assembly is configured to direct an array of pulsed laser beams to impinge simultaneously at a plurality of the points on the sacrificial layer, so as to deposit a corresponding matrix of dots on the acceptor substrate (Figure 6 Paragraph 27, directing multiple light pulses to vaporize parts of the light-absorbing film leading to simultaneous generation of several high-velocity liquid jets and delivery of several subsequent droplets onto the substrate)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with Delrot and had the pulsed laser beam direct an array of pulsed laser beams to simultaneously deposit a matrix of dots. This would have been done to allow for simultaneous generation of multiple droplets via light-actuation (Delrot Paragraph 27).
Regarding claim 30, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 29.
Delrot (US 20180371389 A1) further teaches:
the array of pulsed laser beams causes a first matrix of the dots to be deposited on the acceptor substrate, after which the donor sheet is shifted (ARUTINOV Paragraph 58, a laser beam can be moved over a stationary surface or the donor substate and/or acceptor substrate is moved with respect to a stationary laser spot between deposits), and the optical assembly directs the array of the pulsed laser beams to deposit a second matrix of the dots, interleaved with the first matrix of the dots on the acceptor substrate (Figures 6-7 Paragraph 27, the pulsed laser beam deposited droplets previously deposited by the multiple light beams and the newly depositing 609 and 610 are being deposited in a shifted manner such as to interleave the first matrix of the dots on the acceptor substrate).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 17.
Claim(s) 2-3 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARUTINOV (US 20220009247 A1) in view of Delrot (US 20180371389 A1), SANDSTROM (US 20180015671 A1), GUILLEMOT (US 20170320263 A1), and ZHANG (US 20200215633 A1) as applied to claim 1 and 19 above, and further in view of Merdan (US 6440503 B1).
Regarding claim 2, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 1.
ARUTINOV as modified fails to teach:
the donor substrate comprises a polymer foil.
Merdan (US 6440503 B1) teaches a laser deposition method, wherein:
the donor substrate comprises a polymer foil (Column 6 Lines 22-32, substrate 34 is comprised of a material which is substantially transparent to the laser beam as is made of polyethylene).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with Merdan and have the donor substrate be made of polyethylene. This would have been done to provide a suitable material transparent to the laser beam and suitable for carrying the sacrificial layer and projectile layer (Merdan Column 3 Lines 49-58).
Regarding claim 3, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 2.
Merdan further teaches:
the polymer foil has a thermal conductivity K< 0.5 W/m*K (Column 6 Lines 22-32, substrate 34 is comprised of a material which is substantially transparent to the laser beam as is made of polypropylene).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 2.
Polypropylene is known in the art to have a thermal conductivity of less than 0.5 W/m*K as evidenced by Page 14 of Patti Antonella, Thermal Conductivity of Polypropylene-Based Materials, 2019.
Regarding claim 20, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 19.
ARUTINOV as modified fails to teach:
the donor substrate comprises a polymer foil, and wherein the polymer foil has a thermal conductivity K< 0.5 W/m*K
Merdan (US 6440503 B1) teaches a laser deposition method, wherein:
the donor substrate comprises a polymer foil (Column 6 Lines 22-32, substrate 34 is comprised of a material which is substantially transparent to the laser beam as is made of polyethylene), and wherein the polymer foil has a thermal conductivity K< 0.5 W/m*K (Column 6 Lines 22-32, substrate 34 is comprised of a material which is substantially transparent to the laser beam as is made of polypropylene).
Polypropylene is known in the art to have a thermal conductivity of less than 0.5 W/m*K as evidenced by Page 14 of Patti Antonella, Thermal Conductivity of Polypropylene-Based Materials, 2019.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with Merdan and have the donor substrate be made of polyethylene. This would have been done to provide a suitable material transparent to the laser beam and suitable for carrying the sacrificial layer and projectile layer (Merdan Column 3 Lines 49-58).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARUTINOV (US 20220009247 A1) in view of Delrot (US 20180371389 A1), SANDSTROM (US 20180015671 A1), GUILLEMOT (US 20170320263 A1), and ZHANG (US 20200215633 A1) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Lee (US 20140312546 A1).
Regarding claim 5, ARUTINOV as modified teaches the method according to claim 4.
SANDSTROM (US 20180015671 A1) further teaches:
the donor sheet comprises a polymeric protective layer between the metal film and the donor film (Paragraph 47, target substrate includes a surface active layer located between explosive layer 120 and donor material 102).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with SANDSTROM and have the donor sheet comprise a polymeric protective layer between the metal film and the donor film. This would have been done to assist adhesion between the layers of the target substrate and also aid in storage and rolling of the target substrate (SANDSTROM Paragraph 47).
ARUTINOV as modified with SANDSTROM does not explicitly teach:
a polymeric protective layer
Lee (US 20140312546 A1) teaches a metal sheeting holding device, wherein:
a polymeric protective layer (Paragraph 20, adhesive layer may include an adhesive polymer)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ARUTINOV with Lee and had the protective layer include an adhesive polymer. Having adhesive layers be made of polymers is well known in the art and would have been used for its standardized and predictable results,
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANKLIN JEFFERSON WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7782. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM (E.S.T).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached at (571) 270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/F.J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761